Second Chance
by Free Will
Summary: Shadow is given the chance to be accepted but he has doubts on himself.


------------------- Second Chance? -------------------  
  
Location: Station Square's Golden Bridge. Timeline: Past midnight.  
  
In the highest peak of the city's bridge, Shadow the hedgehog stood there. He glanced at the traffic below. The noise was great down there. Drivers were impatiently honking their horns and some were even yelling. At the sidewalks, people walked by while trying to cover their ears. Cars were beginning to pile up and the traffic had to slow down. Although the policemen were there, they had failed to calm the growing tense of the crowd. Nearly half the road was blocked of. The near empty place at the other side of the road was occupied with nothing but a 100 pound loaded truck with one of its front wheels over a crushed car. The window glass of the car had been shattered and its pieces were everywhere. Its front door at the driver seat was broken off with a man dangling out lifelessly. He has blood at his face and was dripping down to the concrete floor. His family was saved but this man wasn't lucky enough. The wheel of the truck had actually run over him. The wiping wife could do nothing but watched as her dead husband was being dragged out and carried away. She tried running to get him but her hand was held back by a policewoman.  
  
'Please...I must see him,' cried out the woman.  
  
'I'm sorry but an order is an order,' said the policewoman.  
  
'You don't understand. I have to...'  
  
'Please be more cooperative. We are trying our best to get everything done here.'  
  
'What about my child. Where is she?'  
  
'Mom!' shouted a voice from behind. The mother turned. 'Marie!' The girl tried reaching for her but was pushed back by the large crowd of people who were going towards the opposite direction. Marie's mom rushed to get her. She was in tears as she touched her daughter's forehead and hugged her tightly.  
  
'Honey, are you alright?' asked the woman as she broke off her grip but placed her hands at the shoulders.  
  
'I'm fine,' answered the three-year-old girl. 'But where's Dad?'  
  
The woman tried holding back her tears, not wanting to frighten her, and bit her lips. Marie's dress was wet with the mother's tears but it didn't mind her at all. With her large wet eyes, the girl looked at her mother and wore a confuse face. Why was she crying? Did something bad happen?  
  
'Has something happen to Dad?'  
  
Marie's mom couldn't take it anymore and went on crying. It took her some time before she could calm herself down. She wiped out water from her face and looked at her. She didn't realize what was happening. Even if she told her the truth, the girl would still don't quite understand.  
  
'No, Dear. Your father is fine.'  
  
'Then where's Dad?'  
  
'Your dad is now in a happy place. It may take some time before he comes back for us.'  
  
'When will he be back?'  
  
'Sweetie, I don't want you to talk about him anymore. Promise me that you won't bring him up again.'  
  
'But why? Don't you love him?'  
  
'Please... for your own sake, promise that you just forget about him.'  
  
'Mom, I want to remember dad. Where is he?'  
  
The mother looked away. She didn't have the heart to tell her but what was she going to do? Her hands were starting to sweat and the face was pale. Marie could sense something was wrong. //Mom must be hiding something.//  
  
'I don't know if you understand this but your dad is...'  
  
A sharp hearing was one of the Ultimate Lifeform's capabilities and he happened to overhear the conversation between the mother and her child. For a while he looked at the two but turned away. The scene didn't touch him at all. Since after what he had been through, nothing could have been as much depressing as his.  
  
He opened his eyes and stared straight at the starry night above. Unlike the noisy traffic below, the sky was a lot peaceful. //Maria...// The ark, the star and space. He belonged there but a lot of things had happened. Everything has change. He is now trapped between the two worlds. The noisy traffic down there or the peaceful night above? Which should he choose? He had once wished on coming to this world known as Earth but that have change when...  
  
Shadow shook his head, not wanting to recall anything. He had sworn to himself to try and forget about her but things didn't go as he had hoped. He badly wanted to lead a free life just like the hedgehog, Sonic but he was now forced to stay in hiding. G.U.N was sure that he is alive and had sent troops to be on lookout for him.  
  
'No! You are lying. Dad is alive. I know he is,' shouted Marie. She covered her face with her hands and took a step back.  
  
Shadow looked at the girl. She was in fact crying and was avoiding her mother whenever she tried to get near her. This upset Marie's mom even more.  
  
'Dear, please. I'll be upset to see you cry like this.'  
  
'I don't want to hear anymore. You are lying!' The girl closed her ears and unexpectedly ran off down to the highway where the traffic were beginning to clear out. Cars were now rushing through the busy road.  
  
'Sweetie, No!' yelled the mother and tried to go after her.  
  
Marie heard her mother calling her. However, she didn't stop. Instead, she responded by closing her eyes and ran even further down the road. Tears were beginning to stream down her cheek. //Mom is lying. I know she is. //  
  
As Shadow was about to turn and leave, he heard a very loud noise coming from the bridge below. He quickly took a glance at what was happening and his eyes were widened.  
  
Marie kept on running without a care that she was heading towards the road of doom. Just then, she heard a sound of a long horn. The girl opened her eyes. She stared at a van coming to the direction where she was standing and nearly cried out. Marie was now paralyzed with fear. She wanted to run but her legs wouldn't let her. The driver managed to hit on the breaks but was too late.  
  
'MARIE!' screamed out the terrified mother. Never in her life had she felt so much fear.  
  
Marie immediately blacked out when she felt someone grabbed and threw her out of the way . She was now on the sidewalk of the road, unconscious. Her mother quickly ran up to her. Nearly everyone that was walking by noticed the accident but none were helping out. Many times, she slapped her child's face but it didn't help to wake her up. 'Sweetie, please don't scare me. Wake up!'  
  
The guy who had nearly knocked the girl down was surprised by the whole scene. He quickly got down from the van and went to check on what he had hit. His front car's window was shattered and covered with blood. Fear quickly came to him when he realized that the thing was someone. He immediately looked under his vehicle. A black figure was looking at him with its eyes still remained opened. The man gasped when he saw the angry glare the creature gave at him. Its nose was bleeding and nearly had half of its body covered with red.  
  
'Hold on there,' said the man nervously. 'I'll get someone to help you here. Whatever you are...'  
  
As the man turned to leave, he thought he heard it said, 'Hedgehog.' It had the deepest voice he had ever heard. This slightly scared the man but it sounded desperate and was in pain. It was now breathing heavily, gasping for air. He knew that he had to get help and fast!  
  
'Just hang in there. I'll find help soon.' The hedgehog just nodded his head before he fell into unconsciousness. The man then left him to call for an ambulance.  
  
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Author's note: I know that this ff is going to be messed up if I try to put in the actual game's timeline. So I decided to change Shadow's bio a little. There IS a reason for this but I'm not telling it now. The changes will be explained as the story goes on. 


End file.
